Nakama
by Booksong
Summary: Nakama. It was the only word that was right for the bond they shared...after everything they'd been through together; after everything they'd taught each other. Gaang Friendship one-shot.


**Disclaimer: I love the characters, but I don't own them. **

**A/N: One of things I loved so much about the finale was the easy way the Gaang came together. Watching that 'tea shop scene' had so much meaning for me, because it truly shows that the characters were not about to forget what they went through together. And when I looked closer at each individual...it hits you exactly how much they all helped one another grow up. So this is my tribute to that.**

**Nakama (n.): A Japanese word for a powerful bond that exists between a group of comrades; denotes a relationship that is stronger than friendship or mere teamwork, and almost familial.**

* * *

**Nakama**

He heard the footsteps coming up the outer stairs, a steady rhythm he had easily learned to recognize. If he listened hard, he could even distinguish who it was, although he didn't really need to listen to figure that out.

He always arrived first. Besides, his footsteps were the softest and lightest of them all.

Smiling, Iroh hefted himself up from his comfortable armchair, and went to prepare the tea.

_Nakama._

_He had never had a family. Gyatso was the only family he had ever known, with his wise eyes and the crinkles at the corners of his face when he smiled. Aang could hardly have imagined a kinder soul. Among his fondest memories would always be those lazy afternoons making pies and playing Pai Sho, laughing with a man who still knew how to have fun, despite his age._

_Gyatso had loved him like a father; Aang had loved him like a son. But all that had gone when he woke from the iceberg._

_He didn't know when the two Water Tribe siblings had begun to fill that void. It wasn't a single moment at all. It was just something that happened. But maybe it had begun when Katara had put her arms around him, and Sokka had gripped his shoulder, and she said, _

_"We're your family now."_

_And how true it would become. But it was not just them. _

_Aang had never dreamed he would look into a pair of opaquely blind eyes and feel like grinning. He had never imagined that the golden eyes of the royal Fire Nation dynasty would become as familiar to him as his own gray. _

_He never knew it was possible to feel so close to a group of people who were not technically your own._

_His responsibility was to care for the world. His power was over all four elements. It was an immense duty, an immeasurably huge task. _

_But somehow, knowing that his friends, his family…they _were_ the elements, in a way. They _were_ the world._

_That made it a little easier._

"Hi Iroh!"

Iroh was so glad Aang had stopped calling him "General" Iroh. The title always made him feel more like a solider and less like the tea shop owner he loved being.

"Welcome, Aang," he responded warmly, as he always did, keeping an eye on the teapot as he half-turned to greet the Avatar.

Iroh could swear he grew taller every time he entered the Jasmine Dragon. His yellow-gold robes hung a little less loosely on his lengthening frame. But everything else about him; his arrow tattoos, his gray eyes, and his friendly smile, remained the same. Momo rode on his shoulder, chittering conversationally, as he had nearly every day since Aang had found him. Through the open doors, Iroh could see the huge white bulk that was Appa out on the terrace.

"Tea will be ready in a few minutes," he informed Aang. "And you know the others should be here soon."

"Yeah." There could be no missing the way the Avatar's eyes lit up at that simple statement.

_Nakama._

_To her, family was something she didn't have much of, exactly. A mother who was dead, whose face faded in her memory with each passing day. A father who thought it more important to go to fight a faraway threat than to stay home and care for his children. A brother who didn't exactly think she counted for much, but tried to be good to her anyway. A grandmother who was both kind and gruff; the only one who was really there. And a broken tribe that was only a fragment of its former glory. _

_The spindly airbender didn't fit into the equation either. Maybe that was why he ended up fitting so well._

_He was so out of place…so out of touch. He didn't know about the war, or how to catch penguins, or how to waterbend. But he didn't try to mother her, like Gran-Gran. He didn't look down on her, like Sokka. He just wanted to have fun, to be her friend._

_She needed that. And she came to need him more than she could ever have guessed._

_She'd never thought she would grow to know Sokka so well, and in doing that, he transformed from the annoying, sexist brother she'd always thought of him as, to the brave, good-humored, slightly less annoying brother he was now._

_She never thought she'd have to depend on a blind earthbender to save her life, to guide her path and the paths of those she cared about._

_She never dreamed she would one day embrace the son of the Fire Lord and forgive him for the wrongs of his spirit and his nation._

_Things never turned out how you'd think._

"Aang!"

"Katara!"

Iroh couldn't help hiding a smile in his beard as the robed figure went darting across the room to embrace the newcomer with obvious enthusiasm. Iroh found it incredibly endearing how the two of them usually preferred to hug rather than exchange kisses like the rest of the couples, although sometimes they gathered good-nature teasing for it. Nevertheless, it certainly communicated the same amount of emotion.

"It's so good to see you!" The fervent tone of Aang's voice said exactly _how_ good that was.

"Same here. You're getting taller," Katara accused, but there was an affectionate undertone to her voice.

"Good," Aang responded. "Zuko can stop calling me short."

Katara chuckled. "Speaking of, the others are coming, right?"

Aang put his arm casually around her shoulders, and she looked more than happy to leave it there. "Are you kidding? I don't think they'd miss it."

_Nakama._

_For almost as long as he could remember, he took care of the household. Or at least, he pretended to, while Katara took care of the really important stuff._

_He had to be strong for Dad. His father had to come back to what was left of his family and find them all healthy and happy and well taken care of._

_Aang kind of messed that up._

_He didn't exactly want to start traveling the world with a scrawny airbender who was supposedly the Avatar. He never wanted to rely on the magic of bending, only on the strength of his body and the skill of his weapon. _

_And at first he didn't think he needed anyone but himself. Boy, did that turn out to be wrong._

_It was a strange feeling to get used to…not to be a leader, but to be part of a group. There was less for him to do, less opportunity to stand out and prove himself. Especially when your companions were benders who seemed to grow stronger by the day._

_He thought it would weigh a little on anyone's pride._

_It wasn't until he understood that it wasn't about being just one among four, but an _essential_ one among four, that he realized the truth._

_He was not part of a group at all._

_He was part of a team._

_And that made all the difference._

The outer steps to the Jasmine Dragon creaked and groaned under his thundering ascent. Sokka made his usual entrance, friendly and loud and obvious, making a beeline for his sister and Aang. He grabbed both of them, slapping Aang on the back and hugging Katara. "Hey, Katara! And how's my favorite arrowhead doing?"

Aang grinned back at Sokka. "Pretty good. How about you?"

"Good. Hey, I brought my art stuff! I thought we could try some poses this time." He brandished an armload of parchment and brushes.

Aang and Katara ducked their heads so they could exchange exasperated grins.

"So, now that Sokka's just about strangled you, can I say hi?" Suki's head appeared over Sokka's shoulder, smiling.

Aang and Katara both went to hug the Kyoshi Warrior, who as usually had traded her makeup and uniform for an ordinary robe. As Suki drew out of their greetings, she eyed the low Pai Sho table in the corner. "By the way, Mai and I call first game on Pai Sho. We never finished our rematch last time."

Sokka shook his head. "You and Mai are _never_ going to be finished playing Pai Sho. Honestly, I think you're more competitive about that game than you are about real fights."

Suki whacked him affectionately on the shoulder. "Oh really? I'll show you competitive the second we get home, in the dojo, if you want."

Over by the kitchen, Iroh smiled serenely. He liked peace and quiet, but he also loved this. Their warm, friendly banter never changed, but it was always different. He measured out the tea in small scoops; eight cups in all.

_Nakama._

_Family were people who restricted you. Family were people that didn't listen to you. Family were people that hovered and protected and smothered you, until you almost…_almost_…forgot who you really were._

_That was her life._

_Until the light, almost nonexistent steps of that infuriating kid in the earthbending ring had shown her something else. _

_There was another way to live. There was another kind of people in the world, people who would respect your skills and still help you up if you needed it. People who would listen to you without pity or judgment, without trying to change your mind. People who were awed by your ability, instead of being afraid of it._

_People who, at the end of the day, could see through all your aliases. Who knew that you could be the Blind Bandit, and the Runaway, and the Melon Lord, and the esteemed Miss Bei-Fong. And at the end of the day they just called you Toph, with that exasperated, affectionate, awestruck, accepting tone that meant you had somehow become one of them._

_People called friends._

_She had never even told them the greatest gift they had given her, but she thought they probably knew anyway._

_They had set her free._

"Yo."

They never seemed to notice when she entered; it was amazing how someone with such a big personality could make such an unobtrusive approach. But she was leaning against the doorframe when they turned; feet bare, hair pushed back into a bun.

"Toph!" She laughed, a loud and genuine sound, as they crowded around her to crush her in the center of a group hug. She hugged back, calling them roughly and affectionately by their well-worn nicknames: Twinkletoes, Sugar Queen, Snoozles, Honey. When she had extracted herself from the tangle, she took special care to come over and give a hug to Iroh, a gesture that always touched him. He was fonder than ever of the young blind earthbender.

"Tea soon," he reminded the room at large.

Just then, Toph raised her head with the stillness that meant she had heard something. A grin broke over her face.

"Good thing, Iroh. I think the gang's all here."

_Nakama._

_He still couldn't quite believe it._

_How could a life so twisted by destiny, so battered by fate, so scarred by misfortune…how could such a life have taken this turn?_

_He could never have said how much he owed them._

_He had never known a true sibling. But now there was a Water Tribe warrior and a young airbender and sometimes even a blind girl who would listen, and play jokes with him, and sometimes on him. People who showed him new techniques and new places and new things. People who were unafraid to share his happiness and his grief, his fears and his dreams. _

_He had lived much of his life without a mother. But now there was a Water Tribe girl, of all people, who seemed to be mother to them all. Who would rest a hand on his shoulder or give him a sympathetic look or a hug, or tease him just enough to get a smile out of him on a bad day. _

_And of course, he had no true father worthy of the name. It seemed incredible that he had ever believed otherwise. But they were all teachers to him, all advisors. They told him when they were proud of him, and let him know when they were disappointed. When they called him "Fire Lord", which was not often, it was with affection, not reverence. And then there was always his uncle, who was more father to him than anyone else ever was._

_And he had once thought no one could ever love him, with his scar and his bitterness. Now, there was someone who, every day, with touches and glances, words and actions, showed him he had been profoundly mistaken in that._

_Once he had felt sorry for himself, looking at everyone around him with envy. _

_Now, he found himself almost pitying the people who did not have what he did._

"Zuko! You made it!" Sokka grinned toward the entrance, and all heads turned in that direction.

"What, and you thought I wouldn't?" It still looked strange, Iroh reflected, to see a smile come so easily to his nephew's face. Strange, but unbelievably good. "Even if I am Fire Lord, it doesn't mean I can't get away to come _here_ every so often."

He took a step to enter when a pair of hands caught his shoulders.

"Ah, ah, ah," a cool voice admonished softly from behind Zuko, "Take it off first."

"What?" Zuko looked confused, twisting his head to look at Mai.

Her slender hands reached up and lifted off the flame-shaped crown that surmounted his head. Mai passed it to Iroh, who had come over at Zuko's appearance and who stood with expectant hands to receive the ornament. Mai reached up and, with the barest of smiles, ruffled Zuko's mane of hair until it was no longer in any sort of formal style.

"There. _Now_ you can go in," Mai said, in a tone with a certain amount of satisfaction in it.

Zuko shook his head, but he was smiling to himself. Mai squeezed his shoulder in a quiet gesture of affection, and then leaned around him and said in her usual calm monotone, "Suki? Did you call the table?"

"Yep!" The Kyoshi Warrior was already reclining in one of Iroh's padded wooden chairs in front of the Pai Sho game.

"Excellent," Mai said, with the kind of fierceness that was usually associated with when she was about to begin knife practice.

Iroh poured the finally steaming water into each clay cup. As water met tea leaves, a warm herbal scent rose from the brew. Iroh inhaled deeply, enjoying his favorite smell in the world.

He piled the full cups onto a tray, saving one for himself, and then caught his nephew's eye across the room. Zuko nodded and came to pick up the tea.

No one had ever questioned the tradition; no one but Zuko ever tried to serve the tea. It had become the kind of ritual that is observed without thought or reason.

Zuko made the rounds as he always did. Stop to hand Toph her cup, as she rocked the chair back on two legs and propped her feet on the table, giving him a toothy grin of gratitude. Anticipate Sokka's movement, setting his tea down on the corner of the parchment he was unrolling, ready for whatever drawing he would attempt today. Pass Aang his cup as he sprawled out on the floor with a youthful air that he didn't get to show much in his dignified position in the outside world. The young Avatar always met the golden eyes of his Fire Nation friend as he accepted the cup. Aang liked to think neither of them ever tired of wondering at the connection that had been forged between them. Then he continued on. He had to stand completely still as Mai and Suki reached for their tea, because they were so concentrated on the Pai Sho game they had begun that they'd knock the cups over groping for them if he didn't hold steady. It was a lesson he'd learned the hard way.

Finally he took his own cup; the last cup on the tray. By the time he finished the rounds, the brew had cooled just enough for Zuko to sip it without burning his tongue. It was a perfect setup.

He went to stand next to his uncle, leaning against the counter. Iroh was watching Mai and Suki, leaning towards each other over the Pai Sho table, eyes locked on the tiles. Sokka had given up on his drawings already and was standing behind Suki's chair, watching the table as intently as his girlfriend. Every so often, the irrepressible warrior would start to stage whisper advice to Suki, only to be fiercely shushed. Iroh chuckled under his breath.

He turned to his nephew. "Why aren't you over with Mai?" he asked, quietly enough not to be overheard.

Zuko grinned, brushing his hair out of his eyes. It was getting longer, and without the crown to hold it back, it often got in his way. But he didn't care, much. His head always felt lighter without the ornament of his position. He answered Iroh's question easily. "Because Suki's too nice to pin Sokka to the wall with a knife for breaking her concentration."

Iroh laughed again, louder this time. He squeezed Zuko's shoulder affectionately. The Fire Lord felt a stir of warmth.

He looked around the tea shop again, marveling. No one wandering by on the street would guess that some of the most famous names in the world were in here right now, sipping tea. And he would never have guessed that he'd be among them.

There was peace in the Jasmine Dragon, in the heart of Ba Sing Se. There was laughter and talking that went late into the night, as burdens of stress and duty were shed, secrets were shared, banter was exchanged. It was their unspoken pact that their bond would never be compromised, that the journey and the triumph they'd shared would never be forgotten.

_Inseparable. Unbreakable. Timeless. Loyal. Laughing. Loving._

_Group. Gang. Companions. Team. Friends. Family. _

_Nakama._


End file.
